The Signs You're About To Break Up

Are You Headed For A Breakup? Future Single Guys Should Recognize These Signs

Your gut usually knows before your head or your heart — but you might not want to admit it. Maybe things haven’t been great between the two of you for a while. You’re arguing more, having sex less and you don’t look forward to seeing one another like you used to. All couples go through rough patches, and sure, some of them last longer than others, but how can you tell when it’s a bad period that’ll pass… or a sign that your relationship might not make the cut?

“We all get to a point where we have to get real and look at what isn't working in our relationships. Whether it's you who is tempted to pull the plug or you're noticing signs from your partner that they have one foot out the door, there a definitely clues to the imminent demise of almost all relationships,” says relationship and sex expert, Dr. Kat Van Kirk.

What are those scary signs that it's time to break up? Let the experts tell you the sad, honest signals that you’re headed for a breakup:

1) You’ve Stopped Venting

Problems at work? Bickering with friends? Upset about a fight she had with her mom? If you aren’t hearing about her struggles — no matter how big or how small — you might be moving toward a break-up. The same goes if you’re no longer keen on including her in your daily ups and downs, either. Couples use each other as a safe haven for complaining, brainstorming and releasing stress, and if your conversations are lacking substance, you might be drifting apart.

“You may stop asking each other for advice and feedback on both major and minor life situations,” Kirk says. “This means one of you may have developed a different friendship — or relationship — that serves that purpose, or you no longer trust one another’s input.”

2) You Don't Have Any Events Coming Up

Your favorite band is in town next week, but you don’t have tickets. You’ve been invited to your cousin’s wedding in the spring, but you haven’t brought it up. She needs a date to a friend’s birthday dinner, but she hasn’t asked you.

“When a couple is on their way to breaking up, they often don’t discuss or have difficulty planning the future,” Kirk says. “It may be a subconscious way to avoid making promises to someone or an overt sign that you or your partner doesn’t believe in the relationship enough to consider it when making plans.”

3) You’re Not Touching Each Other

Couples who dig each other make excuses to be close to one another, either on purpose or on accident. Happy couples might not be all about PDA, but in private, they cuddle on the couch, they dance in the kitchen, they kiss one another in playful ways and generally speaking, they think their partner is, well, hot.

Laurel House, author and dating expert, says if you’re both being hands-off — and attracted to other people — it might be time to explore other options. “If you’re more interested in texting and flirting with other women and you find yourself thinking about your exes and wondering why you ended it with them, you might be losing interest,” she says. “You don't want to touch her, and make up excuses as to why you can't be physically intimate - and that’s a bad sign.”

4) You’re Not Fighting (About Anything)

Healthy couples have disagreements and of course, things about one another that irk their partner. From how her hair gets stuck in the drain and she doesn’t clean it out to how she leaves coffee rings on the table, there are likely things that aren’t perfect about your girl. But if you stop pointing these things out and you stop fighting completely — you’re both saying, "I’ve given up."

“Your relationship might be on a downward spiral when you stop disagreeing,” Kat says. “You may think lack of fighting is a good sign but it can indicate that you and your partner have checked out emotionally. There tends to be a general lack of passion in the relationship and a subconscious apathy that has taken place when one or both of you have one foot out the door.“